Daddy's Little Girl

51. Moving In.

KEIRA's POV

I hummed along to the tune that played from the stereo as I brushed my hair in front of the mirror. Today was an exciting day for me because Papa was finally getting discharged from the hospital.
 
The week flew by shorter than I had expected. The doctors had told me that my father's condition was stable but he needed to avoid anything that would put him in that state again.
 
I finished up with my hair and picked up my shoulder bag from the chair. I slung it across my arm and practically ran down the stairs. I was excited to see my old man once again.

I hopped into my car and drove down the street. The drive was quite short as the hospital was not too far from where I lived. The moment I got to my father's hospital room, he was fully dressed and ready to go.
 
He was conversing with the doctor, so I waited for him to finish. Once he was done, the doctor walked out of the room.

"Keira, it is good to see you again," my father beamed and stretched out his large arms for a hug.
 
"It is good to see you, Papa," I replied and embraced him.
 
"But you are here a bit earlier than planned," he said with a raised eyebrow.
 
"I was excited to see you and could not wait till the appointed time," I replied with a giggle.
 
Papa chuckled and it made me laugh too. My father was a huge man with broad shoulders. He was the type to laugh with his whole body. Seeing him so jolly and full of life put my mind at ease.
 
All my worries had vanished into thin air. I could still vividly remember how I felt and how he looked on that hospital bed a week ago. I never wanted to see him in that state again, ever.
 
My father and I walked out of the hospital and into the car.
 
"I am so glad to be out of there, the smell of antiseptics was nauseating," Papa said and wrinkled his nose.

I chuckled and inserted my key into the hole.
 
"I do remember how much you hated hospitals," I giggled.
 
"You are damn right. Even as a kid, I despised going in there. My mom had a hard time dragging me to the hospital each time I felt sick," he chuckled and ran over his large belly.
 
"Little wonder you are hardly ever ill. Your body's way of preventing you from visiting that hideous place." I said and Papa laughed.

I started the car and made a turn down the road.
 
"So, just like we planned, we are going to have dinner at a restaurant," I announced with a grin on my lips.
 
"Ah, yes. I never forgot about our plans. So where are you going?"
 
"Mmm, we are going to Kaiser's."
 
I made a glance at my dad. His eyes were beaming.
 
"Kaiser's. That is a good choice. The food there is marvellous. I went there for a company dinner once and let us just say I did not regret the choice my secretary made. The food had..."

My dad kept blabbing on, and even though I could not follow everything he was saying, I was just glad he was able to talk this much. My dad was always like this. Once he started talking, it would take him forever to stop.
After he had a heart attack, it occurred to me that anything could happen. We were lucky enough that the heart attack did not kill me. It made me realise that life was short, and I was not spending enough time with Papa.
 
I decided to change that and this dinner was the first step.  Papa kept talking and I would occasionally chirp in. We laughed and talked until we were at our destination.

I parked my car and we hopped out of the car. The restaurant was large and people pooled in and out of it. It had three floors, making it stretch up. We walked into the restaurant and I began to admire the decor and furniture.
 
The first floor was large and what caught my attention was the large golden chandelier on the ceiling. It glittered, giving the restaurant a fancy feel to it. The wallpaper had a plain design on it that seemed to compliment the glass tables and leather chairs that were filled with customers eating their meals.
 
Waiters and waitresses walked around the area in their uniform serving customers and taking orders. My father and I walked up to the counter. A girl with blonde hair tied up into pigtails shot us a courteous smile the moment we approached the counter.
 
"Welcome to Kaiser's, do you have a reservation ma'am?" She chirped with a bubbly tone.
 
Kaiser was a big and famous restaurant. You could only eat here if you booked a reservation days before. I made sure to do that three days earlier.

"Yes, a reservation for The Temples," I replied.

She nodded and her eyes moved to the monitor in front of her. My eyes trailed the screen for seconds and then she turned back to us.
 
"Yes, The Temples. Your table Is number 56 on the second floor."

I nodded and we began making our way to the second floor. As we walked up the stairs, I could not help but admire the shiny marble stairs. Everything felt so lavish and it gave off a very exquisite atmosphere.
 
We got to the second floor and saw that the whole area was filled with tables and chairs, some of them already occupied by customers. We found our table which was situated by the large glass window. I held the chair open for Papa who raised a questioning eyebrow at me before sinking into his chair.
 
"You know I can pull out the chair myself, right?"

I sat opposite him and grinned.
 
"I mean of course, but I wanted to do it for you since you are still recovering. The doctor said  you can't do any strenuous work, remember?"
 
Papa rolled his eyes and got a giggle from me.

We picked up the menus in front of us and I looked through the food options. Nothing piqued the interest of my taste buds. I took a peek at my father through the menu and saw that his attention was still fixed on the menu.
 
"Are you done deciding the food you want?" I spoke up.
 
He looked up from his menu and stroked his beard while humming.
 
"Hm, I guess I will go with the steak."

I blinked at him.

"No Papa, you can't go for the steak," I protested.
 
"Why not?"
 
"Steak has a lot of oil and that can't be good for your heart right now. The doctor specifically said to avoid any food that would affect your heart in a bad way."
 
Papa frowned. He looked like he wanted to protest, but his shoulders drooped and he shrugged.

"I can't win against your nagging, can I?"
 
"Of course not," I giggled.
 
I signalled for a waiter passing by and he walked up to us.
 
"What would you both be having tonight?"

"I will be having the tomato cream pasta and the fried shrimp. My father here would have a casserole with a baguette."
 
The waiter wrote down our orders, bowed and took his leave. My eyes trailed down to the beautiful landscape below us. Papa and I talked a bit until our food was served.
 
We talked in between bites and he would make me laugh occasionally. This made me realise how much I had missed Papa's presence. We talked for so long and lost track of time.
 
Once we had both finished our meals, he paid the bills and we walked out of the restaurant. It was a little after 9 pm, so there was a bit of traffic on the highway.
 
"Papa," I called out to him while keeping my eyes fixed on the room.
 
"Hm?"
 
"I was thinking and thought that it would be a great idea if I moved in. What do you think?"
 
"I think that is a great idea sweetie. I mean, I have been hoping that you would move in with me for the longest time."
 
I giggled. He was right, but at the time, it seemed like an annoying offer. I wanted to be on my own and have that freedom of being an adult. But now none of that mattered. All I wanted was to spend more and more time with Papa.

The traffic eased up a bit and I drove down the street. I made a turn to the left and Papa's mansion was in view. After my father made a brief call, the gate slid open. I parked my car and walked him up to the door.
 
"I will move in first thing tomorrow morning," I said.
 
Papa nodded and pulled me into a tight hug.
 
"This dinner was perfect,"
 
"I am glad you enjoyed it," I said.

We bid each other good night and I hopped back into my car. I drove out of the mansion and down the road. The next thing on my mind was the appointment I had planned with Clint. I drove down the road and to his house.

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Hiii, just in case you missed it, the chapters have been slow because this book is paid on some other reading platforms so the release rate here has to be really slow.

Going forward, I will upload from two chapters a week until we get to chapter 100.

And then we stop there...

Sorry for delay in uploads and thank you so much for the support.

They have made my day on so many occasions.

Thank youuuuu!